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Alnwickdote No 14 - Never dismissing too lightly?

Some of the best training provided
for all kinds of interview skills is given by John Cleese of Monty Python
fame.The Chief Executive mentioned
below did not have the benefit of this.

If there has been one constant over the years in my career
at home and abroad, it has been to be called upon to handle or advise on
dismissing people from their jobs.It is
not an enviable task.It always has to
be done properly in accordance with due justice.And people like me can’t forget any of the
cases, usually because of the sadness and failure that surrounds them.

Sometimes though you can’t help wondering and laughing….

Some cases leave an indelible mark.“The Spanish Lesbian Lover Letter” that
helped decide that a female carer was indeed abusing a mentally-ill girl.Then there was the time the Chief Executive
and I argued strongly, one of my earliest clashes with those in authority.He thought he had the power to dismiss an
employee.He didn’t (the power was
delegated elsewhere), which is just as well as he was wrong in his analysis.

Whereas misconduct or poor performance was the main reason
for dismissals in the UK, overseas it is invariably financial impropriety right
up until my last case a few weeks ago, although the second one I describe below
was a mix of both.

In tune with my “Alnwickdote” theme, two cases stand out
because they were different and had their funny side. In local parlance, the subjects were unable to "keep their feet still", the title of a North Eastern song you can hear here.

“The Westcountry Way.”

The Boss of the Mechanical Division was a serious,
conscientious guy, a bit of a disciplinarian.One day he ticked off a young mechanic for some demeanour but the lad
responded rather vociferously, leading to a gross misconduct hearing before the
Chief Engineer. I was there to advise
him professionally whether there were grounds for dismissal and the local Trade
Union Union Official was defending the mechanic.

The Boss (Mr A) gave his description of what had transpired.It was a fairly matter-of-fact account devoid of any
colourful language.

The Mechanic (Mr B) then gave his version of the story.“Well Mr A, he
came up behind me, and sounded me off, I were doing something wrong with
wrench-spanner.That’s not first
time.He picks on me.

“Were you doing something
wrong?

“Maybe I was, too tight,
knackered threads!”

“So why did you not just
accept the criticism, what did you do?”

“I just snapped.I told Mr A he was a “f******g c***!”

The Chief Engineer managed to control himself, got up,
turned his back to gaze out of his office window, hiding his face.

“And tell me, Mr B, if I come
to the workshop and tell you off, what would say to me?”

“I’d call you a “f******g c***!” too”!

At which point hilarity ensued.We did not dismiss the lad, but after advice from
his Trade Union officer; an apology and warning, he turned out as a model employee.

“The Silver Moto Gang” (A moto is short for
motor-cycle in Cambodia)

I began to notice that all was not well with staff rostered
to return every Friday from their districts for the weekly meeting.Then we found that some were not to be found
in their districts Friday mornings.“What is going on?”“Nothing
of course……X had to go home his wife was sick!”You gave permission?“Yes!”

The tell-tale look gave it away.So with a trusted
colleague (so I thought at the time), we decided to delve a little deeper.Our suspicions were well-founded.We soon found the fleet of 6 silver motor-cycles were returning Thursday
afternoons, but where?The rules were
clear, at night they had to be stored in approved district or HQ locations.It was a surprising twist that led us to find out that our
staff, led by the Administrative Officer supposed to be responsible for the
rules, had taken to Thursday night karaoke gatherings.But they all denied it at first.There was no proof. Nothing seemed to come of
the story.

Just two weeks passed, but sure enough one Thursday evening,
I saw one silver moto heading off the main road down a track that housed only
one establishment.I called my “trusted”
colleague to join me, to help with any interpretation from English to/from
Khmer, and we visited the place.

The moto was nowhere to be seen, the place was quiet, except
for the karaoke hostesses, who of course in this place, offered extra personal
services at an extra price naturally.

We sat in the front yard, where moto’s of clients would
park, drinking our slow beers. We waited and waited.No-one came.The hostesses were not happy.“Why don’t you pick us and go sing”“We are waiting for our friends, they are due soon!”

It was obvious that once again, we would not find out what
was going on.So we called for the bill,
to go.One of the girls ventured “Who are your friends?”I replied “Just
some boys who work with us, they say they come here. I thought I saw one
earlier on his moto” Oh, yes the silver moto
gang! Yes they come every week, 2-3 times” “Silver
Moto’s?” “Yes, because they all have the same
motos!”

“It may be a coincidence,
there are many silver moto’s, do you know their names?”“Well there’s Mr Indian man, he’s big boss his favourite girl
is…..over there, and then there’s XXX, he goes with S…, etc”. “Sorry, we don’t recognize them!”Then
persisting she added“And S… said they are
coming, he’s the one with….”.

At this point she described S’s distinct features,
unmistakably one of our "boys".They went
on to describe the others in sufficient detail that their identities could not
be in doubt.

The next day we had interesting an staff-meeting. The group eventually made admissions. All but one
were given final warnings for misuse of assets and failing to attend work as
per their contracts.The ring-leader,
who was found to have committed other serious offences, was dismissed.

That was the end of the Silver Moto Gang!

A Siver Motor-Cycle being used properly for a community meeting

It was bringing cases like this to donors that led to some to change their rules "assets must stay in the service of the original target beneficiaries", unfortunately seldom enforced. Please see this blog for more on this subject.